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Chess World Championship 2013: Magnus Carlsen close to championship

At the Chess World Championship in Chennai, 8 out of 12 rounds have been played already. Challenger Magnus Carlsen gets closer to dethroning title defender Visvanathan Anand.

5:3 lead after victories in rounds 5 and 6

The preliminary decision in favor of the world’s number 1 from Norway (Elo 2870) was made after duels 5 and 6. Magnus Carlsen was able to prevail over Visvanathan Anand and secured a 4:2 lead after four draws in the previous rounds. In the meanwhile, duels 7 and 8 were played in India in which title defender Anand (Elo 2775) was not able to strike back. Therefore, the current score after 8 out of 12 duels of the World Championship in Chennai is 5:3 to Carlsen’s favor. The 22 year-old is facing another milestone and the greatest success in his career and might just celebrate his 23rd birthday on November 30th as the new Chess World Champion.

8th duel ends in draw after only 33 moves

Yesterday’s duel between Anand and Carlsen was the 8th match of the Championship and truly a reflection of several earlier matches. All draws of prior rounds were rather tiresome, and surprisingly the 43 year-old title defender played a tight game, even though his backlog should indicate otherwise. Many observers of the Chess World Championship 2013 assume that Anand has already resigned and given up on the title defence. According to a contrary assumption, the Indian is trying to focus on the two remaining matches, which he will play with the white chessmen. Anyway, the 8th duel ended in a draw after only 75 minutes and 33 moves. Thus, Carlsen is only 1.5 points – or three draws – away from the title.

World Championship is scheduled to last until November 26th

The World Championship is planned to end with the 12th duel on November 26th 2013. At the moment though, many factors indicate an early end. The prize money of the championship amounts to $2.55 million, which is about 1.89 million Euros. Even before the duels started, Magnus Carlsen received a payment of $100,000 , as he has to compete in Anand’s home country India. If the World Championship ends after 12 duels, the victor gets to take home 60 percent of the prize money, while the loser receives the remaining 40 percent. In case of a tie-break, which seems unlikely at the moment, the prize money is shared 55:45 percent.